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Under the Weather
Summary: A mad scientist threatens the Earth with ultimate doom! Can the EDC and the Autobots stop him? ZBC reporter says, "The EDC is optimistic that there will not be a Decepticon attack." Spike Witwicky says, "No we're not." ZBC reporter says, "This just in, Secretary General Spike Witwicky has just released a statement that, ah, the EDC is NOT optimistic that there will be no Decepticon attack." Spike Witwicky releases a statement predicting the attack of the Decepticons, VENOM, Gandalf the Grey, Gandalf the White, Monty Python and the Holy Grail's Black Knight, Benito Mussolini, The Blue Meanie, Cowboy Curtis, Jambi the Genie, Robocop, the Terminator, Captain Kirk, Darth Vader, Lo Pan, Superman, every single Power Ranger, Bill S. Preston, Theodore Logan, Spock, The Rock, Doc Ock, and Hulk Hogan. Amber MacKenzie arrives at the meeting place and sets up to record the session. Considering that this was advertised on open communications, it's either a trap for the Decepticons, or someone is trying to commit suicide by Decepticon. In either case, she keeps to a safe distance, near cover, and relies on the zoom capability and gain on her mini-camcorder rather than putting her neck on the line by watching from a closer distance. Standing upon a huge platform is a bizarre device that defies description. It appears to have four arms that stretch across the platform, and numerous antennae-like objects sprouting up out of the limbs. In the center is some sort of metal cylinder. Its purpose is unclear. Up on the platform, accompanied by a few bodyguards, Professor Whitmore is smiling and waiting for visitors to come and see his invention. Well, it's not really his invention, so much as he figured out how to make the damn thing work. As he will probably explain himself in a few moments. James Bailey has his Hermes parked at the outskirts of the area, but is sitting on top of it, occasionally scanning the skyline and the placement of other EDC security forces, and occasionally peeking inside at a screen - he has the hovertank's external sensors dialed in on the platform, maximum zoom. James read the mission briefing, and is actually kind of curious about the good Professor's work. Exo-Armor Warthog Tank is among the security personnel here for Prof. Whitmore's demonstration. The Colonel leans back in the exo-armour's cockpit, wincing even as she does. The brief spike of pain quickly reminds her of the beating Megatron gave her Talon not too long ago. Luckily, any sign of weakness on her part is hidden behind the steely grey exterior of the Warthog. Marissa is stationed near James, and unlike him is all suited up. If the demonstration goes on long enough they'll switch places on who has to be suited and who can go free. Being stuck in an exo-armour for hours on end is grueling. Exo-Armor Warthog unfolds each pod under itself forming arms and legs, the nose folds down revealing a head which flashes its lone optic. Exo-Armor Warthog Robot is also in its robotic mode. Selena Llwyll is playing nice with the plain clothes security, heels ticking on the ground as she flashes smiles here and there. There is the occasional adjusting of her impeccably tailored suit before she gets a bottle of water to drink, listening in on any chatter. From Exo-suit Glaive Unity , Spike Witwicky is floating in the air at the edge of the proceedings. He's not only suited up, he's green across the board and five by five. The fact that Megatron has returned has gotten the old man's hackles up. Increased patrols, increased security, beefing up readiness levels around the globe - he's definitely not liking the latest developments. He pipes up over the EDC broadband as he starts seriously looking over his radars, sonars, and proximity detectors for any signs of shenanigans. Bumblebee is parked with other cars. He remains quiet for the meantime. Just a little yellow volkswagon, no one pay attention. There's a gaggle of press corps types and curious civilians, too. Looking them over doesn't appear to reveal the presence of any psychopathic Spanish terrorists. This, and the fact that the Decepticons really haven't attacked yet, would seem to suggest that everything really will be just fine. For once. "Ladies and Gentlemen!" Professor Whitmore says, smiling at everyone present. "Welcome, welcome! As you have heard, I have finally perfected my weather control device! Although, of course, this is not the only component involved, oh, no! Up in the atmosphere, high above us all, are billions of intelligent, solar-powered nano-probes! The Institute has been seeding the air with them for months. By controlling the nano-probes density, movement, and the circumference of their reflective micro-panels, I am capable of redirecting storms, preventing them outright, raising and lowering temperatures, and more! But before I activate the device, does anyone have any questions?" James Bailey raises his hand. "Did you say you've been seeding the air with these nano-probes...for -months-?" He looks up into the sky, then looks back at the Professor. "Do you control the spread of them? Do you keep them in a localized area, or do they spread naturally, or..." He trails off and shrugs. "Um, maybe I can talk with you later, after the demonstration." Selena Llwyll is listening to the demonstration, sipping water and making a slow patrol of the perimeter. William, having no hackles to speak of, keeps his position 12 o'clock off of Spike for an instant before he returns to his counter-clockwise route around the perimeter of the gathering. He doesn't envy those stuck on the ground. At least there's a slight breeze up here. Well, a perceived one at least. Not that the almost black armor keeps him cooler by any means. But at least he's not stuck inside a bulky tin can. Looking down at the scene, William notes the gathered press corps, the malnourished looking security guards and one Ms. Selena Llwyll. Pausing to take a stare at her, he smile behind his faceplate. Ah, happy thoughts. He's quickly jerked out of these by the statement 'seeding the air with them for months.' and pauses in his circular hover pattern. Looking down at his arms, which he raises a bit as armor can be constricting on the neck's range of motion, he raises a brow. Only a dirty Benefactor would use nano-tech for anything. And this crap might be on his armor right now? Disgusted, he blinks the commands into the retinal monitor to pull up his suit's diagnostics and runs a scan. Not wanting to be down the amount of time it'd take for a level 1, he settles for a level 4 scan, sweeping his eyes around himself at maximum zoom in the hopes of spotting one of these nano-machines. Marissa listens to the speech. While she's definitely intrigued by the opportunities that present themselves with being able to control the weather, she tends to be somewhat conservative about any technology that involves the words 'nanoprobes'. From within her Warthog, Marissa gives an inaudible 'huh' at hearing that they've been getting seeded for months now. She doesn't have any questions, but only because Bailey asks them first. From Exo-suit Glaive Unity , Spike Witwicky watches, quietly, though he himself does have questions. Like, "what happens when/if they malfunction - what will happen /then/?" but he doesn't ask this - not here. He knows what it's like to be naysaid and heckled in public. He'll ask these in private, later. For now, he keeps an eye on things surrounding them and the like. Professor Whitmore smiles at Bailey, chuckling in a friendly manner. "Oh, don't worry, I filled out all the necessary forms with the UN before-hand. But yes, it took quite a long time to fill the atmosphere with these little buggers! The job is complete, however, and soon you will all know the benefits of my work!" Spotting an individual nano-machine with a mere camera would be incredibly difficult, as they are, individually, smaller than skin cells. You'd basically need a high-power lens and a scanner to find the exact location of such a tiny machine. But supposing William does, the nanites are in a loose pattern hundreds of feet above him. "Any... other questions?" Whitmore says. He glances pointedly at Amber MacKenzie. Earthwatch is going to be pissed, Amber knows. Having strong ecological leanings, the organization doesn't like disturbing the natural balance of things with technology. Still, she is here as a record-keeper, not a heckler. Minor adjustments to her camera bring the good professor in for a closeup. A brow is raised as the professor singles her out. Oh well. With a shrug, she steps a little forward. "Amber MacKenzie, Earthwatch news. Any comment on the effects altering the weather would have? Causing rain in one place usually means not having rain in another. Not to mention the potential for abuse." Selena Llwyll heaves a sigh - nanotech released and then a press conference. Still, her job is to keep an eye on the crowd, watch out for any suspect activity and not to think about any repercussions this could have on the environment. Professor Whitmore's smile vanishes for a moment at the mention of "abuse." It's as if he was offended by that. "Ahem... well, fear not, my dear. This weather device will be used mainly to... even out the weather, not tip it completely out of scale. It will also be used to direct powerful storms away from civilization. The Earth can have all the raging cyclones it wants, just not where people are trying to live. And, ah, don't worry, I swear on my word that this device will be used for only the NOBLEST of causes!" Smiling broadly again, he pulls out a PDA-like device from his lab coat. "Well, let us begin!" He begins to tap something onto the screen of his PDA, and looks skyward. Up above, those few clouds in the sky at the moment begin to rapidly drift away. "Inside those clouds of millions of my nano-probes! Using their solar cells and miniature ion engines, they are able to propel those clouds away from the city. But not to worry, I can call them back!" He taps a few more buttons, and the clouds return. "Remarkable," Marissa says out loud as her Warthog cranes its stubby neck upwards to watch the demonstration. Her comlink is off so the comment is merely to herself, but the Colonel is definitely impressed by the level of technology being displayed. This might not address the possibilities of abuse, but hey. "Man's going to be a billionaire with this," she chuckles. Cutting the scan short, William looks over to the Unity and jerks his head a down and to the right, signaling where he's intending to go. Not wanting to be in the air a second longer than he has to, he cuts his thrusters, does a jack-knife-like motion and then reignites them, heading straight towards the ground. As he approaches, he spreads his arms, righting himself at the last possible second. The whirr of small motors can be heard as he turns himself to look skyward. William's armor begins to compact into the tribal bands placed around his appendages. As the process takes place, he loses height and mass. When the flurry of movement is complete, William is simply flesh and bone. Soundwave says, "EDC comm activity increasing. Requesting additional information." Elsewhere, a vaguely Bald Eagle-shaped figure is clinging to the side of a flagpole. He is somewhat obscured by the American flag on it. From Exo-suit Glaive Unity , Spike Witwicky nods at William's power armor, though the Unity remains airborn. He begins to circle the paremeter of the gathering at a slow velocity, split screen keeping an eye skyward and on the crows around looking for red blips on the detection array. Selena Llwyll's attention is focused on the 'normal' people, eyes tracking the occasional person with a friendly smile. She's staying on the move while she's on the ground, taking time to circle near the speech giving position to perform a surrepticious glance for strange objects. Americon says, "Soundwave! I'm here in America, and I'm checking out this weather control thingy! It looks really neat!" From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe drives along, one hand on the joystick to his right, the other tapping out on a swiveling keyboard. He's cranking out code for something while he moves along getting closer to the area. He prays nothing goes wrong since this is a little dangerous. Not to him mind you, he's in an armor plated hovertank. He's meaning to the traffic around him. An SUV is nothing to a warthog. He turns off the main route towards the gathering and comes to a stop setting the warthog down on tripod like skids that slide out from the underside. "Got it..." he says as his small computer screen flickers 'scanning frequencies'. Soundwave says, "Provide report." Americon says, "Yes, sir! He is making the clouds move around with some sort of PDA-thing! Uh, I listened to local news reports and the Professor said something "nano-probes" being in the Earth's atmosphere!" Picard calmly watches from afar. He strokes his chin with his right hand. "Data," he whispers as his eyes focus on the Unity. He adjusts his tie and ponders going to get some tea. You receive a radio message from Soundwave: Assess potential for capture of device. James Bailey looks up at the clouds as well, sliding halfway into the cockpit of his hovertank so that he's only visible from the waist up. He checks his tactical displays, even though others have probably done so multiple times already. He tries to keep one eye on the screen focused on the presentation, not wanting to miss whatever comes next. Professor Whitmore taps a few more commands into his PDA, then looks up at the sky. He frowns, as clouds continue to gather. "Hm, that's not right..." He taps a few more commands, but still the clouds do not part. "Oh, dear... Ah, oh, I see, I hit the wrong command..." Amber MacKenzie mutes her sound feed and mutters, "Moron." Since she's a ways off from the crowd, she's not likely to be overheard. "'...swear on my word that this device... blah blah blah.'" she mocks quietly. If she's gonna heckle, at least she's keeping it to herself. "I'm sure *your word* will carry a lot of weight with Megatron and the global terrorist community. Oh, thank you *so* much for adding a new dimension to terrorism." She looks around for any EDCers, hoping that they'll do something about Professor Idiot-Savant. Ah hah. Selena Llwyll appears. Ask, and ye shall receive. "Lieutenant Llwyll. Going to stop this idiot before he either destroys the world or hands the Decepticons the means to do it themselves?" She leaves the sound off on her camcorder for this conversation. You send a radio message to Soundwave: It's really big! We'd need to bring a shuttle at the very least! And we'd still have to rip off of the platform, and it looks like we'd need a combiner or a lot of strong Decepticons! You receive a radio message from Soundwave: Disposition of EDC forces? ZBC reporter says, "This just in! A hurricane has been reported in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is moving in--wait, this is impossible! The hurricane just split in two! One is headed east, and the other south! We'll have more information as this story develops." From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe does a high frequency wide broadband scan of the immediate area. He isn't concerned what Whitmore said just now since he's busy running scans and trying to interpret the info coming in as fast as it does. Noah pushes up his classes and hears over the channels, "Oh smeg..." You send a radio message to Soundwave: There's a crap-load of them! Uh, I mean, There's like, four suits than I can see, right now. I think one of those Militant guys was flying around a moment earlier. And there might be a few EDC guys that I haven't spotted. You receive a radio message from Soundwave: Understood. Observe and record. Picard grins and begins to head out. Why? Because he's Picard. "Splendid! The world is going to hell. Ah, we should make ourselves Gods. I can be Thor." He walks right by the Unity and waves before he heads out to leave. Colonel Faireborn sits up a little straighter as Whitmore mentions that he hit the wrong command. She had been quite content to relax up until now, but the way Whitmore suddenly shows a moment of weakness gets her slightly worried. "Ah s---," she mutters off the radio as the weather reports begin flooding in. "Suit up, ladies and gents!" she calls out over the shortwave broadband. The Warthog comes alive as Marissa finishes powering it up. Selena Llwyll stops to smile at some enthusiastic young nerds at the front of the crowd before turning and passing near Amber. As she's addressed, her smile tilts a bit, "We can't tell people how to think, Ms. MacKenzie. We can suggest better ways of handling top secret and potentially dangerous technological leap presentations, but.." Shepauses and frowns, looking at the podium and mouthing 'oh dear?'. Eyes slit. "Excuse me, have to protect the professior in case this turns into a riot." She unbuttons her suit jacket, thumbing the lock off of the pistol that was neatly hidden under there. William continues to watch as the clouds roll in... and roll in... and roll in... and roll in. Shaking his head, he looks over towards the three exo's parked just outside and brings a finger to his jaw. "Colonel Faireborn, we did have plans to sto..." He pauses mid sentence as the hurricane report comes in. Shaking his head, he watches Marissa. You paged Noah Wolfe with 'There's a lot of movement in the clouds above. It's difficult to detect the nano-probes due to their tiny size, but it certainly seems that more and more clouds are converging overhead. If you're trying to determine what information the weather control device is sending, it's heavily encrypted.' "Excuse me, ma'am," a security guard says, as he tries to push Amber up the stairs on the platform. "You must come with us." Something about his voice, and the look in his eyes, is a bit off. Like he just took too many anti-anxiety drugs or something. And as the first guard does this, another guard tries to interpose himself between Amber and Selena. This one stares at Selena blankly, his mouth hanging open a bit. Professor Whitmore continues to fiddle with his PDA. "I'm very sorry about this, the problems will be corrected in just a moment!" he says distractedly. You send a radio message to Soundwave: Uh, this Professor guy seems to have screwed something up! You receive a radio message from Soundwave: Affirmative. Attempt to worsen situation. Ecological disaster acceptable. ZBC reporter says, "Weather services report that the first Hurricane, designated Samantha, is headed for San Francisco. And the second hurricane appears to be moving towards New Zealand." You send a radio message to Soundwave: As you command! Amber MacKenzie doesn't like being pushed around under the best of conditions. She tries to yank free of the pushy guard, alarm bells sounded in her mind. "Hands off, you. Unless you have a badge and a warrant, I'm not going anywhere with you." What the *hell* is going on here? Her gaze darts from the security guard to anyone else in the vicinity. "Lieutenant Llwyll!" Her right hand moves towards the pocket with her can of Mace in it. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe is confident that the Warthog won't get blown away. He releases the controls and swivels his keyboard in front of him with a hiss of hydraulics. His fingers go flying across the keyboard as he starts running down the series of decryption algorithms. "ZBAH coupled with an alpha decryption sequence...no no...what about a 7 series beta endorphin code? Hey, I think it looks like an ansi monkey....that can't be right...let's see...." Selena Llwyll pauses, looking at the guard for a moment before stepping around him, heading for the podium and the professor. "Professor Whitmore!" Stiletto heels clicking, "Professor Whitmore.." looking over her shoulder, "Ms. Mackenzie is with me." tone flat, smile fading. "Leave her alone." Turning on said patent leather shoe complete with a shiny, steel heel, she advances on the guard, "Hands off of the lady, mister." Robotic Bald Eagle suddenly jumps off his perch and, activating thrusters, propels himself straight at the platform. It'll take a few moments for him to get there... From Exo-suit Glaive Unity , Spike Witwicky is still in the air and close to the platform. He lands and places himself squarely between the professor and Americon. Pulling the RCR-104 'Hunter' Rifle from it's magnalocked holster he levels it at the 'patriotic' eagle and sneers behind the faceplate. "I wish you would." When the orders of three superiors begin conflicting, a Scout can only do so much. Looking to Spike's Unity, then to Faireborn's Warthog, then to Llwyll, then to the sky, William has a classic cartoon quadruple take. As he starts to move one way, taking a step, another order comes in that will take him to the air. Then back to the ground. Then to the ocean. Then to the platform... the platform that does suddenly seem to have a robotic bald eagle flying towards it. Robotic Bald Eagle mating season isn't for another three... NEVERS! "INCOMING!" he calls out over the EDC broadband. The blank-faced guard from before continues to stand in Selena's way, matching her every move and blocking her with his large body. A bit of drool falls out of the side of his open mouth. And the guard pushing Amber continues to do so. Her complaints don't deter him, and he continues to shove her up the steps until she is on the platform. If he noticed Amber reaching for a can of mace, he didn't seem to care. Then something insubstantial flickers over the platform. Spike may find, to his surprise, that he is sliding off of something faintly transparent instead of landing on the platform. Americon doesn't have much better luck. "SQUAWK!" he cries out as he bounces off of a nearly invisible barrier. "Well, now it is time for the second part of my presentation," Professor Whitmore sneers. "You see, my invention is working as intended, unfortunately for you! And the man you knew as "Whitmore" never existed! You may know me better as... "Dr. Arkeville, genius of science!!!" Americon says, "*CLONK* OW!!!" You receive a radio message from Soundwave: Report. Cackling, the professor rips off his mask, revealing the evil genius's true face and robotic cranium. Then, he rips a glove off of his right-arm, revealing a metal limb! You send a radio message to Soundwave: I... hit my head on something invisible! And... there's this... Arkeville guy here! You ever heard of him? "The Borg!" shouts Picard as he leaves. Yes, Picard is evil and tries to blame the Borg forever. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe continues tappity tappity away on his keyboard. He's going to crack his code or god help him...he'll go for a beer and watch the carnage on CNN. He looks up at the storm clouds and sighs, "Ok...CVC1 beta...no. This had better not be an eight terabit numerical code base." Selena Llwyll has a moment to be irritated, then another to think 'FECK!' as the baboon of a man does the drool dance and she can see Amber getting herded. Still, not without her own wits, she gives a shake of her head, "Leave the girl alone." Sidestep, twist and dart at the stage with all of the grace of a gazelle, the elegance of a crane and the nimbleness of a nimbly. Goal: Get to Amber. From Exo-suit Glaive Unity , Spike Witwicky bounces off the shield and hits the ground. Shaking his head a little, he stands up. "So unwise." he says with a sigh. He starts using his own monitoring equipment to isolate the location of that shield. Should be easy, right? Suuuuuuure.... ZBC reporter says, "According to national services, they have finally determined the course of the twin Hurricanes! Samantha, the first hurricane, is headed straight for Autobot City! And the second, Tabitha, is headed for the Decepticon fortress of New Crystal City!" Marissa unfortunately has other things to worry about than an overzealous security guard. The Colonel moves as Dr. Arkeville reveals himself. "I thought you died!" she shouts at him even as the Warthog begins to charge towards the man on the stage, using the Warthog's hover jets to avoid hitting anyone. Her tone is half complaining, half demanding an explanation. The Exo-Armour is a slow, bulky affair, and Marissa is hoping on the element of surprise and sheer brute force to keep the man (or is it cyborg at this point? Arkeville seems to be more machine than man, now) from evading. She has no idea if this is going to work, but she tries to smash through the invisible forcefield that Americon ran into in order to get at the gooey centre that is the mad scientist. Picard has partially disconnected. Amber MacKenzie is roughly shoved onto the platform with the Professor, suddenly understanding why they're after her. Dr. Arkeville isn't exactly new news, but she's read about him. Before her time. Desperate fingers close around her only weapon, and she swiftly brings the can of Mace out of her pocket, almost fumbling it in her hurry. Instead of aiming at the guard restraining her, she aims at Arkeville. No grand words of defiance; she just wants enough time to get free and get the hell out of there. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Selena coming and hopes she can get this... mindless goon off her back. Soundwave says, "... commence lockdown procedures for NCC. Evacuate personnel and equipment to secure facilities, close and seal blast doors." Arachnae says, "Might I suggest transforming the city and taking it underneath the ocean?" You receive a radio message from Soundwave: Alteration to current orders: attempt to divert hurricane from path of NCC. Picard happens to utilize his radio as he goes into a store to by a poncho and an umbrella. "The Little Mermaid? Meh, this will have to do!" With another shake of his head, William takes three steps towards the podium, pushing past the rush of humanity that is going away from it as quickly as possible. Step one takes him into the crowd, armor starting to envelop him. Step two takes him further into the crowd but this time with less jostling and a full suit of armor. The third step is a thruster assisted jump over the heads of the crowd. There is no fourth step as he's flying now, moving towards the podium, but not the stage itself. He's looking for the perimeter of the shield, and he thinks he can spot it. But just to be safe, as he's only got one shot at this, he calls back. "Greathawk to Wolfe. Aproximate location of the shield generator and the shield's perimeter." It's a request, but in true Militant fashion, it's not phrased as such. Dr. Arkeville snort at Marissa as she bounces off of his field. "Dead!? Bah! Your Autobot friends have tried before to stop my genius, but you failed, and I managed to avoid the horrific fate you laid down for me at the hands of my own creations! It wasn't easy, believe me, but I managed to pull it off by---AAAGHHHH!" He waves his hands in front of his face at the cloud of mace. One of the guards near Arkeville interposes his own face in the path of the mace, and though his eyes redden and tear up, he doesn't move his face away, nor cry out in pain or shock. Unfortunately, Selena doesn't get past the field in time. She'll find it starts just in front of the steps. The guard that she dodged earlier, however, hasn't given up. "Hail Arkeville," he drones as he throws a punch at the back of her head. And about that field, it appears to be cylindrical in nature, forming a barrier around the platform. Still, examining it further might be complicated by the increased winds. William's armor begins to expand across his body, originating from the tribal bands placed around his appendages. As it encompasses more and more of him, he begins to gain height and mass. When the armoring processing is complete, there's a momentary pause before the optic sheilds flash a bright red before returning to their normal glow. ZBC News features real-time footage of NCC and Autobot City. The skies are darkened in both locations, with massive winds. Lightning bolts are striking the highest points of both cities. And massive waves are punishing the shores of Mt. Ryleh. Exo-Armor Warthog Robot slams against the forcefield with the exo-armour's shoulder, resulting in a supremely loud crash. But for all of Marissa's efforts, the damn thing refuses to budge. Looks like the techies might have to be the ones to figure this one out, she muses. Taking a step back and examining the field as best she can, Marissa tries to determine its outline. She moves around it, hitting it occasionally. To an outside observer it might look like the Warthog is doing the Trapped In An Invisible Box routine, as its movements are occasionally halted by the shield. "Anyone able to get that barrier down?" she calls out over the broadband. You send a radio message to Soundwave: Uh... I can't get to this doctor guy. There's some sort of a field here! Americon succeeds in grasping Exo-suit Glaive Unity , throwing it off-balance. You receive a radio message from Soundwave: Define field parameters. Robotic Bald Eagle perches on the head of Spike's exo-suit, wings folding up. "Hmm! Most odd! How shall I overcome this obstacle!" Selena Llwyll finds herself smacked, and hard, on the back of her shoulder, that spins her around to face the drooling, babbling good. Eyes slit and she shakes her head, skidding on one of thsoe heels, "Bad move, bubbo." An azure nimbus surrounds the slight woman briefly before dissipating, leaving her clad in artic and azure armoring, raising a gauntleted hand around which armoring shifts, forming some sort of device. "Really bad idea.." Tone metallic. Scrapper says, "Ah! Ah! My city!" Scrapper says, "This is unfair! Decepticon doomsday devices are meant to destroy humans. Not the other way around!" From Exo-suit Glaive Unity , Spike Witwicky jumps into the sky and launches off towards the incoming storm with a *KA-DOOOOOOM!* and a the streak of white contrails as he rockets towards the storm. He starts looking at his readouts and calculating where the exact center of the storm is. He starts prepping his Ion Cannons, to explode a couple of charges within the Hurricane to dissipate it. Flying into the face of the storm causes the suit to buffett wildly, but he keeps steady control of the Unity as he presses on closer. Picard ponders buying a boat right now. He smirks at his radio from Spike. "Very well..." He adjusts his nose and looks around. With this weather storm, it's a perfect time to toss some of those spores that he's been researching around. He opens a bag of and pulls out a bunch of small spores and tosses them into the wind. "Ah, lovely rage." Arachnae says, "Anyone mobilizing NCC?" From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe would do something, but he's busy hacking the signal. "666 protection wall...access 34alpha breaker...damn it!" he says as it spits what could be called a laugh. "Ok you bloody signal, chew on this..." he says as he pulls out a small micro-CD. He slips it in and loads up the decepticon signal cracker, his best signal decryption sequence. Vortex says, "Oh dear. They think they can fight us with the weather? If I wasn't recovering. I'd show them what weather is.." Amber MacKenzie hopes she got him badly enough that he can't give any orders to the goon squad. Whirling around, she switches her aim to the guard manhandling her. Caught by a gust of unexpectedly heavy wind behind her, she staggers forward, now clinging closely to the man to keep from falling. "Damn it," she swears softly, then takes quick advantage of her unwanted, intimate position to knee him in the crotch. If that doesn't get her free, nothing will. Picard radios Spike with, "Make it so!" Scrapper says, "We've had bad weather before... lets put our hurricane protocols to good use and try to outlast it. Is anyone out there able to kill whatever fleshling is responsible?" Soundwave says, "Second hurricane inbound to Autobot City. Expect casualties in Terran city: San Francisco. Advise allowing disaster, expecting minimal damage to NCC." Soundwave says, "... conditional: MSE hurricane protocols function adequately." Vortex says, "Onslaught. Permission to go out and see if I can best it!" From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe snaps his fingers, "Wait a second...got an idea." He copies the signal since he's decoded the global coordinates. Reading and changing the numbers, he sets all the coordinates to the middle of the pacific away from any island...well, maybe Leo's island, but that's unimportant right now. Once he does that, he resends the signal out, stronger than the PDA could transmit so it drowns it out. Swindle says, "he just got repaired, Ons!" Onslaught says, "Do you know what "it" is, Vortex?" Getting the answer he was waiting for, William dives for the back of the platform. Landing in a crouch, he doesn't bother getting up. His target is below the stage, in the girders. And it should have some nice power lines... AH HA! Bingo. Shield generator located. Now to get it to fry. What to do, what to do? A panel opens on the back of his gauntlet, a small screen and simplified keyboard showing. Tapping in a command string, a slight whine can be heard as his suit's power begins to concentrate to his weapons systems. Another command and there's a slight glow that eminates from his armor. One final command and the panel closes, small bolts of electricity jumping from his suit. Clasping his hands in front of him, he extends his arms towards the generator and releases the overload towards the generator. Onslaught says, "No, I imagine not. Permission denied, Vortex." Scrapper says, "Of course they'll function adequately." Scrapper says, "I had Bonecrusher prepare the protocols himself." Dr. Arkeville grimaces, squinting as he rubs at his eyes. "Drone 4, *kaff* go into the main control center!" he rasps. "Put in that pre-recorded message! And when you get back, get me some eyedrops! And some cough drops! *hack*" Arkeville clearly isn't happy that his return took a turn like this, but he has to roll with it. Anyway, one of his guards shuffles off and enters the cylindrical complex in the middle of the device. The guard maced by Amber reacts much like the other one--he doesn't even blink, though he tears up like crazy. And the kick doesn't even phase him. He lets out a little grunt, but tries to grab her by the arms. Another guard approaches from behind and also tries to grab one of her arms. "My dear McKenzie," Arkeville says as he begins to approach. "If you would stop kicking and fighting for FIVE seconds... you're about to get the story of a lifetime!" Noah Wolfe had a good idea, but the problem is that the PDA isn't what is transmitting the signals to the nanites. That would be the massive device on the platform, and its signal is extremely strong. Still, it does create enough interference to confuse the nanites. The two hurricanes seem to stop where they are currently. The shield flickers for a few moments as a result of William's efforts. Is it down? Only one way to tell! Spike, meanwhile, is up against a far greater force than even the Unity's Ion Cannons. His weaponry doesn't seem to affect it yet. Oh, and the guard menacing Selena doesn't seem deterred by the fact she's in power armor. "Hail Arkeville," he drones, pulling a gun. Robotic Bald Eagle squawks as the wind forces him off of Spike's head! Dr. Arkeville says, "Attention, people of Earth! I am Dr. Arkeville, genius of science! The forces of Mother Nature are at MY command, now! The UN must submit to my will at once, or I shall tear apart the Earth! As a demonstration of my power, I will annihilate the cities of the robotic monsters that have infested this planet! You have two hours from the time of this transmission to decide!" Spike Witwicky says, with the sounds of hurricane force winds whipping all around him, and the sound of him shouting over the din, "How about /No/, doc?" Dr. Arkeville doesn't reply, because that was a pre-recorded message. However, he does add, "TWO HOURS." From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe blinks, "Christ!" He feels his warthog start to move and slide across the ground groaning and digging a nice furrow. He grabs the joysticks and pulls back on them shifting moves to robot. It takes a hop but flounders going end over end before slamming into a wall. It cracks and bends slightly, but holds the Warthog fast...upside down. Noah looks around seeing everything gone Australian and says, "Well, this is an odd position..." but at least he's stable. He swivels his keyboard back around and starts to type again hacking the signal. Vortex says, "But, Ons.. hurricanes..." Swindle sighs. 'he's an addict, Ons...I swear..." Vortex says, "I can quit anytime you can quit stealing." Americon says, "I can't get in there! He's got like, a shield, or something, on that weather control thing! Any of you guys know anything about shields?" Soundwave says, ".. prepare tactical response to Terran City: Los Angeles." Onslaught says, "This bickering should not be conducted on the channel, Vortex, Swindle. Be professionals." Earthscorch says, "I find it unlikely that Terran weather could cause harm to a Decepticon structure. Do you think we'll be a target?" Scrapper says, "Wait wait, the UN must submit or you'll destroy both the Autobots and Decepticons?" Noah Wolfe says, "Heh, sounds like a bloody foul deal I'd say." Scrapper says, "Come on, fleshling, threaten to destroy JUST the Autobots but spare us. THAT'LL get them upset!" William says, "General, I say we let him kill them all." Scrapper says, "We are a target, but I think we can handle anything this so-called 'Mother Nature' can throw at us." Scrapper says, "You would, Militant trash." Soundwave says, "Intention: provide false assistance, capture Terran scientist and device for study." Selena gets shot, suit suffers cataclysmic cascade effect. Selena falls over. Go Drool goon. Next. Scrapper says, "Sounds fine by me, Soundwave." From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe hits a few command keys on his keyboard and brings up an encrypted command line to the alameda relay. He clicks over to his coms but hears a squelch, "What the hell?" He sighs as it's just the decepticon broadband. He's not worried about that much at the moment. Picard makes a few clicks on his radio and the Sweepcraft appears. Currently it was hidden somewhere in the desert of Arizona for such a use. The repairs were made from last night. Picard manages to get in thanks to a rope Earthscorch says, "Isn't this guy in our records?" Exo-Armor Warthog Robot continues to circle the forcefield, trying to gain entrance. As William seems to make some sort of headway, Marissa pushes forward as hard as she can, trying to break through. Failing in this, the Colonel resorts to her onboard weaponry. The left arm mounted laser cannon is set to a low power but concentrated burst. It's a poor man's makeshift laser scalpel, but Marissa tries to hack through the forcefield with it. If need be she'll start ramping up the power to the cannon. Amber MacKenzie slowly ceases her fruitless struggles and lets a gleam of interest show in her eyes. This is not about the story for her, but a lot of people seem to think so, so why not encourage it? Eyeing the good doctor speculatively, she inquires evenly, "A story?" A single gust buffets her and then is gone. Mr. Goon is good for something, if only to block the wind. "I have to admit that this is all very impressive," she admits ruefully. While she's not an actress, she's performed many times before large crowds, and this is another performance. Earthscorch says, "Why don't we just let him TRY and damage our structures and then look like an idiot when he fails? New Crystal City is your own work, isn't it, Scrapper? I expect no Earthly force can damage it." Meanwhile, New Crystal City loses power throughout half the city. Noah Wolfe retransmits a signal, only many times bigger and stronger. It's all over the pacific this time thanks to EDC relay stations and Nate's quick relay work. Dr. Arkeville looks about worriedly as the field flickers. "Uh, yes. Well, would you... would like to do an interview? I have a wide range of reforms for this planet, ah..." He looks worried as the wind cuts in and out on the platform, licking at his lab coat. Vortex says, "Aww slag. ANd I can't go play in it!" Scrapper says, "Well, I like to think of New Crystal City as a team effort, but yes... no natural Earthbound weather pattern can do /serious/ harm to New Crystal City." Scrapper says, "I think." Marissa's laser scalpel seems to be able to cut verrrry slowly through the weakened field. And Noah's making some headway in hacking the signal. However, the nanites are also transmitting data back to the platform. Stuff like positional data, temperature, that kind of thing. Dr. Arkeville actually intends to destroy Autobot City and NCC no matter what the UN does. He just wants to use them as an object lesson. However, he's occupied with other things and can't say that himself. Mockingbird 1701-D Jet flies near where Spike is and begins to start seeding the storm. The voice from inside shouts, "General Vitvicky, get out of the here!" And the guard menacing Selena prods her a few times with his foot. "Hail Arkeville," he drones again. Power used, William falls back on his haunches. He looks up as Marissa begins to make headway with the shield. Good. Everything's getting better. Or is that just his lack of ability to move. Armor having stopped moving due to a lack of power, William is stuck just sitting there, unable to move. From Exo-suit Glaive Unity , Spike Witwicky holds himself in position, but just barely. "Picard - get yourself to safety. That's an order from both the commanding officer of the EDC /and/ the U.N. Secretary General!" he turns towards the eye of the suspended storm, and fires his Ion Cannons towards the center of the hurricane." From Mockingbird 1701-D , "But the French are leaving the U.N." Picard's exo still continues to try seeding the hurricane with more explosives. "Witwicky, get out of here, or join Briar. That's your choice as a general." He rubs his forehead, "And /straighten/ Jayson out!" Earthscorch says, "Is my assistance needed?" From Exo-suit Glaive Unity , Spike Witwicky sighs, "Picard, they might be leaving but they aren't out yet. Now get outta here. Besides, you're /family/. He's gonna /need/ you. No one's gonna die today - Now GO HOME!" "Making some progress here," Marissa transmits over the broadband. The makeshift laser scalpel is slowly cutting through. The Colonel moves the Warthog's arm upwards, slowly cutting a line. It is similar to someone using a blowtorch to cut a door through a solid metal wall. But the going is slow, and the laser cannon is already at its highest setting possible for this degree of concentration. "William, you're smaller. As soon as this hole is big enough, get on in there and stop the doc." From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe reads the data coming in from the nanites and shakes his head. He wonders though. He copies the data coming in to the receiver on the platform, then changes it so it'll read that the nanites are over Autobot City and NCC. Then sends it over the EDC relay system. Then crosses his fingers. "Certainly!" Amber proclaims enthusiastically, trying to keep his attention away from the flickering field. "Your work here is *incredible* and well worth an interview. I'm ashamed to say that while I've heard of your fantastic inventions in the past, it was long before I was born, and I didn't pay the attention I should have." She penitently drops her gaze, seemingly embarrassed, and surreptitiously looks around to see what's happening. "Would you like to recap for your listeners, Doctor?" Hmph. She sounds just like that blonde bimbo on CNN. From Mockingbird 1701-D , Picard bahs. "Silly Witwicky." He kicks in the high thrusters and begins to ascend out of the area. Amazingly without attacking anyone! From Exo-suit Glaive Unity , Spike Witwicky sighs, and is finally done with Picard..for now. From Exo-suit Glaive Unity , Spike Witwicky gets back to a safe distance, and keys in the code calling out over the broadband, "Going to activate explosives in 3..2..1.." The weather control computer is confused. How did the two hurricanes manage to jump right on top of their targets? It begins a diagnostic as, unknown to the computer, the hurricanes begin to drift in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, explosions erupt within Samantha, and Picard has successfully seeded the hurricances with... SOMETHING. Will it have an effect?.... Meanwhile, Dr. Arkeville beams at the sudden change in attitude from Amber. He smiles broadly. "Yesss, the weather control device is impressive, but I think my best work is the Hypno-Chip. As you can see, these men here..." He lifts some hair on the back of one of his guard's necks, revealing a chip, stuck to the skin like a tick. "...have such chips on them. They are completely under my control, and feel no pain." Then, he slaps the man across the face. The guard doesn't react at all. And as he shows off the Hypno-chip, Marissa has cut a neat little hole into the field... The explosives from Picard's seeding explode! Boom! Bam! Boom! Too bad the French made them. ZBC reporter says, "The Hurricanes Samantha and Tabitha appear to be slowly moving away from Autobot City and New Crystal City respectively! Samantha, in particular, appears to be losing energy and is slowly dissipating." The hole Marissa has cut through the forcefield is finally large enough for the Exo-Armour to get through. The Colonel dashes through before the shield can reform. Dr. Arkeville seems entirely absorbed in showing off to that journalist. Perhaps he hasn't noticed the Exo-Armour sneaking in? The Warthog is not a stealthy machine, but maybe all the chaos + Arkeville's rampant egotism has kept him busy. The doctor may not notice, but Amber does. She promptly oooooooos over the Hypno-Chip, green eyes wide with amazement. "Incredible! Obviously the work of true genius." She bites her lip to remind herself not to lay it on *too* thick. Taking a deep breath, she dampens the wide-eyed dumb bimbo look a bit and asks more demurely, "How long did it take you to develop this marvelous invention, Doctor?" Man, she's gonna have to finish off a whole bottle of expensive wine once this is over, to take away the bad taste in her mouth. Impulse, if one could see his mindscape, would be shaking his head right now if it weren't for the fact that he's transformed. Sheng is going to FREAK about this when she hears the news. But right now, he's got more important concerns to deal with -- like not being shot at by the Decepticons in the course of saving their sorry skidplates. Who'd have thought it? An Alteronian Autobot, tortured for two million years and experimented upon by the Decepticons... and now he's going to try and actually spare their lives. Winds buffet at him, water spraying up against his hovercar chassis as he blurs past in a streak of gold, black and red. Despite that, he's keeping close to the speed of sound, if not occasionally surpassing it when the winds cooperate. Ahead, he can see the darkening clouds... the question now is, will he be allowed to act, or will he get fired upon? A flurry of shifting, twisting and contorting ensues as Impulse transforms into the sleek, streamlined form of a gold hovercar. Dr. Arkeville grins proudly. "Ten years! Ten years of exhausting research! It wasn't easy to find test subjects, either, but thankfully there are plenty of desperate people out there willing to be the subject of dangerous experimentation in exchange for a little cash! Oh, and Megatron helped at the end. Boy, was it funny when I made that Witwicky--Ron, I think he was--fellow clean my lab for me!" He looks about quizzically. "Ehm... do you hear that? It sounds like..." He turns around to stare straight up at Marissa's exo-armor. "HOLY--Hypno-drones, do something!!!" He tries to run away as mindless security guards advance upon Marissa, pulling out firearms and blasting away. Impulse doesn't encounter any Decepticon sentries just yet. However, that might be because of the collossal cyclone up ahead and its rather disruptive effects on the local environment. Exo-Armor Warthog Robot is peppered with bullets from the security guards even as the exo-armour reaches out with both of its massive hands, trying to grab the mad scientist and lift him into the air. The bullets ricochet off the heavy armour plating of the war machine, leaving divets and dents where they hit. Marissa ignores them for now, however, focusing on the main prize. Also, she'd prefer not to smoosh anyone who has their mind taken over. "Nothing holy about this, dickwad," Marissa's muttered voice can be heard through the armour's speaker. Elsewhere, in the Pacific, New Crystal City has battened down the hatches. Even from this distance it's clear that the Decepticons have elected to hunker down and try to ride out the storm, putting their faith in their oppressive fortress to protect them from whatever Mother Nature throws at them. There are no Decepticons in the sky, and the various turrets have shut down and remain undeployed in order to better protect them. You paged Grimlock with 'I don't think so, though it is nearing the end' The Colonel also makes a note to thank that journalist for the superb distraction. The Dinobot will notice, upon arriving, some sort of a fracas on a platform housing a strange, multi-armed relay of some kind. He may also notice, on the platform, a mad scientist with a metal cranium and metal arm struggling in the grips of Marissa Faireborn's exo-suit. "LET ME GO! How dare you lay hands on me, you... you... EDC thug! I am a GENIUS!" Dr. Arkeville cries. His goons haven't stopped shooting just because Marissa's holding him. Instead, they're trying to shoot lower, at the exo's legs. A bullet ricochets off of the reinforced armor and smacks a goon in the hip. He crumples over, but resumes firing at Marissa from the floor. Gold and Black Hovercar << Impulse >> hardly finds the lack of Decepticon sentries comforting. But sentries (or the lack thereof) pale in comparison to the cyclone ahead. He scans the area, checking for the spin direction of the cyclone to make certain, and then guns his engines, kicking up and past the sound barrier. He starts moving around in a counter-motion, speeding around and around and around the base of the cyclone to try and stall the storm out. It'll take a bit before the effects, if any, become potentially noticeable. In the meantime, he's going to look like a one-vehicle Cybertronian version of a Nextel Cup NASCAR race as he zips around counter to the spin of the cyclone. Amber MacKenzie asks innocently, "Hear wh...?" She falls silent as the easily-distracted doctor finally discovers the looming Marissa, and the fireworks begin. Dashing out of the line of fire, she looks for any cover. If the platform's forcefield reseals after Marissa, she won't get too far. *TROMP. TROMP. TROMP.* Grimlock's thunderous footsteps aren't heard in the din of the storm, but rather FELT. With the storm making flying nearly impossible, he's been forced to walk...but it's not so bad- when one's over 40 feet tall, made of metal, and weighs a great many tons, it's hard for a storm to have much effect- not to mention his watertight chassis, too! He's drawn to the sounds of battle like a little kid to a carnival, and hrrms. "Nobody tell me Grimlock there be fighting!" he says, mildly annoyed at it all. Bumblebee tries to follow Grimlock, driving behind him. "Hey wait for me!" He yells to the dinobot. "Tell it to the judge, doctor," Marissa says, lifting Arkeville over her head. She does her best not to actually harm the man, but rather keep him contained. She would have been grateful that she's no longer being shot at, but unfortunately the good keep it up. Marissa waits for Amber to bolt from the immediate area while continuing to absorb bullets. Damnit, this is the sort of thing that journalists use later to extort interviews out of her, she angrily considers. "Jesus... call off your goons, Arkeville! You're not going anywhere and I don't want to see anyone else hurt." She begins backing up through the hole she made earlier, hoping the goons don't follow. Elsewhere, New Crystal City's sensors are watching both the cyclone and the Autobot carefully, though they aren't in any position to do anything about the mech. It is doubtful that Impulse will get any thanks from the Decepticons for his heroics tonight. The Dinobot smashes through the field that had proven to be so much trouble for everyone else. It flickers and dies out. "WAAHHHHHGH!" Arkeville cries as he sees Grimlock approaching. His kicking and squirming becomes more violent. "No, no, keep that thing away from me! I'll order off the hypno-drones! Ah, ah, drones, cease fire!" The guards stare dumbly at the Doctor as they slowly holster their weapons. It's almost an afterthought for Grimlock to bash his way through the shield- at which point he glances back at Bumblebee. "Hurry up!" he growls...and then looks over at the drones as they surrender. He hmms, and then crosses his arms across his chest. "Hr. This too easy." Grimlock mutters. "Why you need me help 'gain?" Well, the device is still on, for starters. Hint hint. :> Gold and Black Hovercar << Impulse >> could care less about getting thanks from the Decepticons. After all, they were kind enough to nearly wreck his existence and that of his siblings over the course of two million years. More than likely, the 'Cons ought to be worried about Impulse delivering a series of lightning-fast martial arts moves on them. After a couple of minutes, however, there's no noticeable sign of the cyclone deteriorating. Considering options, Impulse finally opts for what he's got: several explosive devices, which he fires out of his retractable blaster in an arc trajectory to try and disrupt the cyclone further. Yet still he races on, keeping close to the speed of sound as he keeps going round and round. Bumblebee catches up with Grimlock and just remains at the dinobot's side. "I am here!" He says. "So what can I do?" Amber MacKenzie cheers silently for Marissa and loses no time in quickly darting away from the platform, her long brown hair coming loose and blowing into her face. "Damn it," she swears quietly. She's not a combatant, and she knows that having hapless civilians around just gets in the way of the real fighters. The hair in her eyes almost blinds her, but she sees the large, in-charge Grimlock and goes around him. Finally away from that disaster area, she runs first for her camcorder. Once she has that, it's off to where she left her rental car. Oh oh, Marissa thinks as Grimlock stomps his way into the area. Better make sure the Dinobot doesn't kill the guy. Marissa is about to move away from Grimlock when Arkeville begins shouting and squirming. "Er... yes. Feed you to Grimlock. That's exactly what I'm going to do unless you tell your little buddi- ah, there we go. Good doctor." She tells him. Stepping away from the stage, Marissa looks way up at the Dinobot Commander. "Thank God you're here, Grimlock." She glances at the cylindrical device. "We need that thing shut down." Marissa takes another step, this time towards Bumblebee. "Now we watch the fireworks..." she tells the minibot. Hopefully there are local authorities for Marissa to pawn Arkeville off on, as Warthogs aren't the best for this sort of thing. Explosions erupt around the hurricane. It's difficult to tell at this point if Impulse is having an effect. The hurricane appears to be absorbing the blasts into its howling winds without trouble. Then again, Spike didn't see immediate results with the other hurricane, either... "I can hold him. Not likely he will be able to get out of me once he is in." Bumblebee says as he opens a back door for them as if to show he was willing. "Oh, that EASY." Grimlock says- and with that, he pulls out his Galaxial Missile Launcher, the chrome of the warhead shining even as the rain streams off of it. He doesn't have a mouth in robot mode, true...but one can get the impression of a goofy grin as he levels the weapon- arm stock-steady despite all the wind. He pulls the trigger, and the missile streaks off with a *FWWWWOOOOOSH!* - straight at the weather-widget! Gold and Black Hovercar << Impulse >> isn't exactly expecting immediate results -- truth be told, the dust storms on Alteron weren't quite so bad as this. But he's not about to stop with the Barry Allen routine as he continues circling in a counter-motion to the cyclone's wind rotation. Right now, he's the fastest 'mech alive trying to do something about it, and he's not going to simply give up because there aren't immediate results. This isn't a comic book, after all. "Perfect," the Colonel tells Bumblebee. "End of the line here, doctor." Marissa puts the mad scientist into the back of the Volkswagan as she reads him his rights under United Nations law. Inwardly, Faireborn is rather curious about how Arkeville came back, weather his technology can be used for altruist purposes, and why oh why he named his mind-control devices the 'Hypno-Chip'. Even as she gets the doctor put away, the fiery trail of the Dinobot's missile reflects off the Warthog's armour plating. Dr. Arkeville presses his face against Bumblebee's window as he watches the weather control device explode into thousands of metal fragments, and screams, "NnnnnghhhhhNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! My beautiful invention! My wonderful machine! You've ruined it! Damn you, damn you all!" He howls like that all the way to the slammer. Directionless, the nanites no longer insist on resupplying the hurricane with energy, and Impulse's efforts at last cause it to calm down. The skies don't clear instantly, of course, but at the very least the hurricane is dying down. Might want to leave before the skies get TOO clear, yes? Grimlock hmmms, and grins- the flames of the explosion reflecting in his blue optic visor. "Hn. Tiny brain-head man DUMB." he rumbles. "Tiny brain-head man make lousy machine- is puny, so it smash easy!" The Dinobot fairly beams at this, then pauses. "Er. 'Splode." Amber MacKenzie drives away, being careful in the still rough conditions. Arkeville is such a lamer. LAX will be impossible to leave, at least until tomorrow, so she's stuck in LA overnight. As she drives, she makes a hands-off call to make a reservation at a nearby hotel, as shown on her rental car's GPS. And that's it for the night. Americon succeeds in grasping Grimlock, throwing him off-balance. Robotic Bald Eagle perches on Grimlock's head, musing, "Well, good thing that's over with... in America!" Americon says, "So, uh, I've got a report on the weather control thingy. Grimlock blew it up. In America." Rider says, "Oh SNAP." Grimlock acks! He peers up at Americon. "Where you come from!?" he demands, and then tromps back, waving his arms ineffectually at the bird-bot- the blundering proving quite a hazard for anyone smaller than Grimlock in the immediate vicinity. ...That means 'everybody' Scrapper says, "And the cyclone headed for New Crystal City?" Americon says, "I dunno. Check the Weather Channel." Dirge says, "Thus goes the way of all great things.. destroyed by idiots from failing civilizations.." Robotic Bald Eagle shrieks shrilly as he flaps his wings and shifts around on Grimlock's head in order to avoid the Dinobot's hands. The Weather Channel reports that the super-hurricanes that once threatened AC and NCC are slowly dissipating and are moving away from shore. Rider says, "Daaang." Gold and Black Hovercar << Impulse >> makes certain that the storm is actually dying down first before starting to head back towards Autobot City. Indeed, no sense in hanging around now. And off he goes, breaking the sound barrier once more. Durango says, "Woo!" Marissa breathes a sigh of relief now that Arkeville is safe within Bumblebee. She glances around for the journalist she saw earlier but can't place her. Who was that unmasked reporter, Marissa wonders. Even as she ponders this life mystery, Grimlock begins to swat repeatedly at Americon. C'mon, Grimlock, she silently urges. You can do it! Elsewhere, with Impulse having heroically stopped the cyclone, New Crystal City is slowly coming back to life. Decepticon Seekers are taking to the skies again, and survey teams are being deployed to check on any damage in the city. Nobody seems very eager to thank Impulse with anything other than a laser blast, but the Autobot has easily enough of a head start that he'll be fine. D-56 Ramjet groans, "Unnh. He's talking again..." Grimlock succeeds in grasping Robotic Bald Eagle , throwing him off-balance. Grimlock has big hands (big EVERYTHING, really), and so, as he waves his arms around, it's pretty much a matter of time before he hits SOMETHING as he flapflapflaps at the bird. "Rargh! You get out of here! Me Grimlock no am birdhouse!" "Grimlock...You just got used by Americon..." Bumblebee says with a giggle, keeping the doors locked and the prisoner in there. "And if you tear my my interior, I will take it out of you!" He says as he begins to drive off. Robotic Bald Eagle SQUAWKS as a giant black hand smacks him off Grimlock's head and into the ocean. He skips off the water a few times before he begins to sink into the depths. "In Ameri-blurghlghlghghle!" are his last words before Davy Jones takes him. Dirge hisses, "Wretch, for all the times I have saved you from your own worthlessness you still lack any sense of loyalty." D-56 Ramjet says, "Listen." D-56 Ramjet says, "You are the creepiest thing I have ever run across." D-56 Ramjet says, "My only regret is that I can neither frag you nor seem to go fifteen astro-minutes without running into you." Dirge says, "Flattery is amongst your poorest abilities." D-56 Ramjet says, "I would rather befriend a Sweep than spend one more night rest-cycling underneath you." D-56 Ramjet says, "You giggle. Like a girl. In your rest-cycle." D-56 Ramjet says, "Do you have ANY IDEA how DIFFICULT that makes it to enter sleep mode." Dirge says, "... when you and I perish and find ourselves in the deepest pits of darkness, when Hell seems to encompass your soul, know that when all seems hopeless and when the worst has finally come, I will find you, and torment you for all eternity." D-56 Ramjet grunts. D-56 Ramjet says, "I don't know which is fraggin' worse." D-56 Ramjet says, "Knowing I'll spend the afterlife with Thrust the Wonder Moron or the Crypt Keeper." Dirge says, "When that time comes, I will give you no choice." Exo-Armor Warthog Robot lets Bumblebee go, giving the minibot a friendly wave. With the local authorities taking care of the rest of the clean-up, Marissa sticks around long enough to answer the questions of the police and all the other boring things. All in all, not a bad day! Reports Message: 9/31 Posted Author Dr. Arkeville returns! Tue Jun 17 Associated Press ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (Courtesy of the AP:) MAD SCIENTIST TRIES TO CONQUER PLANET, FAILS The world faced a tremendous disappointment this Tuesday when a scientist known as Professor Whitmore claimed to have invented a weather control device. Although initially he claimed that his goals were altruistic, his true sinister goals became apparent when he revealed that he was actually the renegade scientist Dr. Arkeville, wanted by virtually every nation on Earth for crimes against humanity. He used his weather control device to spawn two massive hurricanes, and as they bore down on Autobot City and New Crystal City, Dr. Arkeville played a pre-recorded message explaining his intention to destroy those cities as a show of his power, and demanded that the UN submit to him or else he would rip apart the entire planet as well. However, quick thinking by the Autobots and the EDC prevented the hurricanes from hitting their targets. Their efforts also resulted in the dissipation of the super-hurricanes, the destruction of the weather-control device, and the capture of Dr. Arkeville, who was taken to the Arkhum Asylum for the Criminally Disturbed.* Reporter Amber McKenzie was on-scene and reported that Dr. Arkeville was using his infamous "Hypno-Chips" to force the local security guards to obey his every whim. Reports from local hospitals state that they believe they will be able to remove the chips without harm. Decepticon interference was reported to be "mild, but patriotic." *A lawsuit by DC comics forced this institution to change its name in 2015. D-56 Ramjet sounds flat, "It's Dr. Arkeville. Everything old is new again." Americon sounds like he's underwater. "He did look pretty old." D-56 Ramjet says, "..." D-56 Ramjet sounds scornful, "I blame -you- for this, Dirge."